PATRONS

ALAN BRADLEY

Alan is the author of the hugely popular Flavia de Luce mysteries and was appointed our first Patron in 2016.

Born in Toronto, he enjoyed a long career in television broadcasting before taking early retirement from the University of Saskatchewan to write full-time. He has published many children’s stories as well as lifestyle and arts columns in Canadian newspapers.

His adult stories have been broadcast on CBC radio and published in various literary journals. He has also written several screenplays and taught university-level courses in screenwriting. He was the recipient of the first Saskatchewan Writers Guild Award for Children’s Literature. After writing for several years on the Maltese island of Gozo, Alan now lives in the Isle of Man.

The first book of his Flavia de Luce series, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, won the 2007 Debut Dagger Award of the Crime Writers Association in the UK; the 2009 Agatha Award for Best First Novel; the 2010 Dilys, awarded by the International Mystery Booksellers Association; the Spotted Owl Award, given by the Friends of Mystery, and the 2010 Arthur Ellis Award, given by the Crime Writers of Canada for Best First Novel.

Besides appearing on the New York Times bestsellers list as a Favorite Mystery of 2009, 'Sweetness' was also, among other honours, an American Library Association nominee as Best Book For Young Adults; a Barnes and Noble Bestseller, and was named to the 2009 Bloomer List.

Each of Alan's Flavia de Luce novels have been New York Times bestsellers, and are presently published in thirty-nine countries and thirty-six languages, with the series having been optioned for television.

CHRIS EWAN

Chris is the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of many mystery and thriller novels, including The Good Thief's Guide To... series, which have taken hero Charlie Howard to Amsterdam, Paris, Vegas, Venice and Berlin.

His first standalone thriller, Safe House, was a number one bestseller in the UK and was shortlisted for The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. He is also the author of the thrillers Dead Line and Dark Tides and the Kindle Single short story, Scarlett Point, and his most recent thriller, Long Time Lost.

Born in Taunton in 1976, Chris graduated from the University of Nottingham with a degree in American Studies with a minor in Canadian Literature, and later trained as a lawyer. After eleven years living in the Isle of Man, he recently returned home to Somerset with his wife, their two children, and the family labrador, where he writes full time. Chris was appointed our second Patron in 2017.

THOMMIE GILLOW

Thommie has performed poetry for as long as she can remember – age five, when her Catholic upbringing had her singing songs and writing poems about loving God, through to being 17 and the lamenting of actual or non-existing boyfriends, and on to her current status as a feminist, lover and mum.

A lecturer in creative writing, English and film at Bridgwater and Taunton College, Thommie helps runHammer & Tonguein Bristol, staging monthly poetry nights, and works as a poetry editor withBurning Eye Books. She was named Bard of Bath in 2008.

Thommie receives regular commissions for her poetry, one of which –Moonbrella– she is bringing to Manx Litfest 2018 - and we are proud to announce her as our third Patron this year.